Apple and Google mum amid outrage over Saudi wife-tracking app

The application is available through the tech giants’ marketplaces, and social media users are lambasting the companies for their involvement—and tacit condoning of women’s oppression.

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Your reputation is tied to your product line.

Your company might be known for great customer service and high-end technology, but if you are peddling software that crosses a moral or ethical line for your consumers, expect backlash.

This has been true for tech companies Apple and Google, which support app marketplaces. Even though they don’t create the apps, consumers have held the companies responsible for products sold on the exchange.

The latest product to spark an outcry is the app Absher, an offering for the Saudi Arabia market enabling husbands to monitor their wives’ movements.

NPR reported:

The app, called Absher, was created by the National Information Center, which according to a Saudi government website is a project of the Saudi Ministry of Interior.

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